Historically, postage meters have been mechanical and electromechanical devices that maintain, through mechanical or “electronic registers” (postal security devices), an account of all postage printed and the remaining balance of prepaid postage, and print postage postmarks (indicia) that are accepted by the postal service as evidence of the prepayment of postage.
Currently, small business mailers may use their desktop computer (personal computer) and printer to apply postage directly onto envelopes or labels while applying an address. The United States Postal Service Engineering Center recently published a notice of proposed specification that may accomplish the foregoing. The title of the specification is “Information-Based Indicia Program Postal Security Device Specification” dated Jun. 13, 1996. The Information-Based Indicia Program specification includes both proposed specifications for the new indicium and proposed specifications for a postal security device (PSD). The proposed Information-Based Indicia (IBI) consists of a two-dimensional bar code containing hundreds of bytes of information about the mail piece and certain human and machine readable information. The indicium includes a digital signature to preclude the forgery of indicia by unauthorized parties. The PSD is a unique security device that provides a cryptographic digital signature to the indicium and performs the function of postage meter registers. The United States Postal Service has also allowed an IBI to be downloaded to a personal computer over the internet.
Current United States Postal Service IBI specifications require a Facing Identification Mark (FIM) to be part of the IBI indicia so that the USPS Advanced Facer Canceller may detect the presence of an IBI mail piece to sort the mail piece properly. In the United States, the FIM is a pattern of vertical bars printed in the upper right portion of the mail piece to the left of the indicia. A FIM pattern is essentially a nine bit code consisting of bars and no bar place holders. The presence of a bar can be considered a binary one (“1”) and the absence of a bar a binary “0”. Thus, as currently specified, the United States Postal Service FIM is large, having approximately 20% of the IBI indicia area.
Generally, the software provided to drive personal computer printers does not allow one to print near the top of paper or envelopes. Thus, personal computer printers have difficulty in reliably printing the IBI indicia. The reason for the foregoing is that the FIM, a component of the IBI, is located near the top edge of the envelope, and it is difficult for personal computer printer's software to allow one to print near the top edge of the envelopes. This difficulty may result in a unreadable IBI and the possible loss of the customer's postage.
Another problem with the prior art is that it is difficult for personal computer printers to print an IBI indicia in proper registration to a preprinted FIM.
An additional problem with using personal computer printers to print on an envelope is that such printers have a tendency to cause the glue on the envelope closure flap to adhere to the body of the envelope, thereby sealing or partially sealing the envelope and potentially rendering the envelope useless. Such adhesion is caused by the fact that the closure flap is closed over the body such that the glue contacts the body of the envelope during printing. Heat from the printer causes moisture in the paper to evaporate and moisten the glue which then adheres to the envelope body.